Extension attachment for guttering downspouts



May 2, w57 R. A. WEAKLEY 3,316,928

EXTENSION ATTACHMENT FOR GUTTERING DOWNSPOUTS Filed Aug. 14, 1964 z f mwNk W www n mw W A. .r 42 la a w, wm 4 `is sometimes injurious to theUnited States Patent Otiice 3,316,928 Patented May 2, 1967 3,316,928EXTENSIUN ATTACHMENT FUR GUTTERING DOWNSPGUTS Richard A. Weakley, Z708N. 73rd Place,

Bethel, Kans. 66009 Filed Aug. 14, 1964, Ser. No. 389,553 Claims. (Cl.137-119 This invention relates to new and useful improvements in thesystem of disposing of drain-ot water from the roofs of houses and otherbuildings by the use of gutters disposed about the edges of a roof andconnected to pipes or downspouts for conveying the water to the ground.Such downspouts are sometimes connected to underground sewer connectionsto dispose of the water, but this is of course expensive, with theresult that the water is often simply drained directly to the groundsurface adjacent the building. Water so deposited quite often erodesunsightly holes and gulleys in the ground, and building foundation.These disadvantages could vbe avoided if the water could be `conveyed toa nearby street, driveway or other paved surface at a greater distancefrom the building itself, but extension pipes from downspouts for thispurpose are themselves unsightly, and form obstructions when mowinglawns and the like.

Accordingly, an important object of the present invention is theprovision of a downspout extension having a normal rest position inwhich it extends vertically along and nests with the downspout itself soas to present a neat,

attractive appearance, but being movable to a use position wherein itextends horizontally from the lower end of the downspout, so as toreceive water vfrom said downspout and convey it to an areasubstantially spaced apart from the downspout for disposal or use.

Another object is the provision of a downspout extension of thecharacter described which is adjustable to convey water in various-directions from and to different distances from the downspout.

A further object is the provision of a downspout extension of thecharacter described wherein the extension may be set in said restposition and will automatically be moved to said use position in theevent of rain, as evidenced by the ow of water through the downspout.

A still further object is the provision of a downspout extension of thecharacter described including a latch releaseably securing the extensionin its rest position, said latch being releasable by the flow of Waterthrough said downspout in the event of rain.

Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, etiiciency anddependability of operation, and adaptability and iiexibility for use ina wide variety of applications.

With these objects in view, as well as other objects which will appearin the course of the specification, reference will be had to theaccompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a downspout of ordinary designhaving an extension attachment embodying the present invention mountedoperatively thereon, said extension being shown in its use position insolid lines and in its rest position in dotted lines,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line II- II of FIG. 1,with the extension in its rest position,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line III- III of FIG. 1,with the extension in its use position, and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional View taken on line IV- IV of FIG. l,with the extension in its rest position,

Like reference numerals apply to similar parts throughout the severalviews, and the numeral 2 applies to the exterior wall of a house orother building, the ground line adjacent the building being indicated at4. Alixed to wall 2 as by brackets 6 is a vertical downspout 8, it beingunderstood that the upper end of said downspout is interconnected withand receives water from guttering mounted along the eaves of thebuilding for collecting rain water draining from the building roof. Thedownspout extension forming the subject matter of the present inventionis attached to the lower end of downspout 8, -above ground level 4, andis indicated generally by the numeral 10.

Extension 10 includes a tubular body member 12 formed of sheet metalpipe of the same size and contour as downspout 8, and being of elbowform, having a vertical leg 14 adapted to be interconnected at its upperend to the lower end of downspout 8 vby a suitable coupling 16, so as toreceive water therefrom, and a horizontal spout 18 at the lower end ofsaid vertical leg whereby to discharge water generally horizontally.Vertical leg 14 is provided intermediate its ends with a swivelconnection 20, whereby horizontal spout 18 may be turned to dischargewater in any desired horizontal direction.

Aixed to and depending from spout 18 are a pair of ears 22 whichsupport, at their lower ends, a horizontal pivot pin 24 at right anglesto the direction of spout 18. Pivotally mounted on said pin is one endof a generally semi-cylindrical, upwardly opening trough 26 or otherconduit having a use position as shown in solid lines in FIG. 1 whereinit extends horizontally away from the downspout with its outer endresting on the ground. In this position, the trough receives waterdischarged from spout 18 of body member 12, and conveys it, for example,to a point spaced well apart from the house or building, where it cannotdamage the building foundation, or to a drive way, street or the likewhere it cannot cause erosion, or to water flower lbeds or the likewhich may be located under the eaves of the house or in other protectedareas not normally reached by rainfall. The direction of extension oftrough 26 can be altered by turning swivel connection 20 of body member12. The distance of extension of the trough `can be adjusted by reasonof the fact that said trough is formed in two sections, an inner section26a supported by pivot pin 24, and an outer section 26h telescopedslidably in guideways 28 formed along the edges of section 26a.Obviously, a greater number of telescoping sections could be provided,if desired, to permit still greater extension distances. In the useposition of the trough, it underlies the discharge end of horizontalspout 18 of the body member, so as to receive water therefrom. Also, itextends behind the discharge end of the spout, and is provided with apartial end wall 30, whereby to prevent water from splashing or liowingout of the rearward end thereof.

Trough 26 is pivotal from the use position shown in solid lines in FIG.1, upwardly to a raised rest position as shown in dotted lines. In therest position, the trough is substantially parallel to downspout 8, andnests concentrically thereabout as best shown in FIG, 4, being supportedby a rubber button 32 iixed in the free end portion of the trough andadapted to abut the downspout as shown. In this position, the center ofgravity of the trough is disposed slightly closer to the downspout axisthan is pivot 24, so that the trough is overbalanced slightly toward therest position, and tends to remain in the rest position, although it canbe tilted outwardly so that its center of gravity passes over the pivot,and thereafter fall to its use position, with a very slight force. Also,the bottom portion `of the trough then overlies the open end of spout18. Therefore, presuming that the desired direction of extension of thespout has been pre-set by turning swivel 2t), the desired distance ofextension has been pre-set by sliding trough section Zeb in guideways28, and the trough pivoted to its rest position so that it will presenta neat appearance and will not obstruct the ground surface or inhibitthe use of a lawn mower or the like, it will be apparent that in theevent of rain and the resultant ow of water downwardly through thedownspout, said water will emerge from spout 18 and impinge on thetrough 26 at a point spaced above the level of pivot pin 24, therebyexerting a force on the trough causing it to fall to its use position,whereafter water will be conveyed by the trough in the direction and tothe distance desired. If the trough is balanced rather delicately overpivot 24, only a slight flow of water will be necessary to accomplishthis function.

While the over-balancing of the trough as described above may beentirely satisfactory in many cases, it will be apparent also that thesomewhat delicate balancing of the trough over pivot 24 results in thepossibility that wind could tip it to its use position even in theabsence of any water ow. To prevent this occurrence, there is provided alatch mechanism including an L-shaped latch lever 34 supported at itsangle on a pivot pin 36 which is mounted in spout 18 so as to traversehorizontally the discharge end of the spout. Said lever includes avertically depending leg forming a vane 38 extending adjacent the bottomof the spout, and a horizontal leg 4G projecting from the spout andadapted to extend through a hole 42 formed therefor in the bottom oftrough 26 when said trough is raised to its rest position, leg 4t) beingprovided at its outer end with a depending latch tooth 44 adapted toengage the trough adjacent hole 42 to secure the trough in the restposition. Leg 4t) is urged downwardly by gravity to hold tooth 44 inengagement, but is prevented from moving downwardly past a horizontalposition by a stop-pin 46 also aixed in the spout. The outer face oflatch tooth 44 is bevelled as indicated at 48, so that as the trough ismanually raised to its raised position, it will engage and elevate thelatch tooth for passage through trough hole 42, the latch thereforerequiring no attention by the operator. Thereafter, the latch will holdthe trough in its rest position even in high winds, vane 38 beingprotected from wind within the spout. However, water flowing downthrough the spout will engage vane 38 and pivot the latch to free tooth44 thereof from the trough, so that the trough can again be pivoted toits use position by water pressure.

If the latch as just described is used, it is of course not essentialthat the trough be over-balanced toward its rest position with respectto pivot 24, as the latch could Isecure the trough even if it wereover-balanced toward its use position. However, the over-balancingtoward the rest position does serve a useful purpose in connection withthe latch, in that it normally keeps all pres- :sure off of thecooperating latch parts and prevents friction between the trough andlatch tooth 44, so that only a very small flow of water is required tooperate the latch.

Also, while the extension member 26 is illustrated as a trough so thatit can nest with the downspout as shown for a neater, more compactappearance, it could also constitute a full cylindrical tube in allportions thereof except immediately adjacent spout 1S. In that event, itcould of course not nest with the downspout, but coul be disposedparallel to and immediately adjacent the downspout when in its raisedrest position.

It is considered that the above changes, as well as many other minorchanges of structure and operation, could be made without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as dened by the scope of the appendedclaims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

i. An extension for use in connection with a downspout afxed to the sideof a building and adapted to convey water downwardly therethrough, saidextension comprising:

(a) an L-shaped tubular body member having a vertical leg adapted to beinterconnected to the lower end of said downspout to receive watertherefrom and a horizontal leg forming a spout at the lower end of saidvertical leg and adapted to discharge water horizontally, and

(b) an elongated conduit pivoted at one end to said body member on ahorizontal axis below the discharge opening of said spout, said conduitbeing pivotable downwardly from a raised rest position generallyparallel to and adjacent said downspout, in which it overlies thedischarge end of said spout, to a use position in which it extendshorizontally outwardly from said spout in alignment therewith and ispositioned to receive water therefrom, said conduit being urged fromsaid rest position to said use position by water impinging thereagainstas it emerges from said spout.

2. A downspout extension as recited in claim 1 wherein the vertical legof said body member is provided intermediate its ends with a swivelconnection whereby the spout portion of said body member may be rotatedadjustably about the axis of said vertical body member leg, and whereinsaid conduit is mounted on the spout portion of said body member.

3. A downspout extension as recited in claim 1 wherein said conduit isadjustably extensible to vary the length thereof.

' 4. A downspout extension as recited in clai-m 1 wherein the verticalleg of said body member is provided interlmediate its ends with a swivelconnection whereby the spout portion of said body member may be rotatedadjustably about the axis of said vertical body member leg, and whereinsaid conduit is mounted on the spout portion of said body member, andwherein said conduit is adjustably extensible to vary the lengththereof.

5. A downspout extension as recited in claim 1 wherein said conduitconstitutes an open-topped trough, and wherein said trough restsconcentrically about said vertical body member leg and said downspoutwhen in its raised rest position.

6. A downspout extension as recited in claim 1 wherein the center ofgravity of said conduit, as it is raised to its rest position, passesthrough and slightly past a vertical plane including the pivotal axis ofthe conduit, whereby said conduit is slightly overbalanced toward saidrest position.

7. A downspout extension as recited in claim 1 with the addition oflatch means mounted in said body member and operable to engage andsecure said conduit in its rest position.

S. A downspout extension as recited in claim 1 with the 4addition of alatch member carried movably by said body member and operable to engageand secure said conduit releasably in its rest position, said latchmember being biased toward its engaged position, said latch memberincluding an operating member disposed within said body member andadapted to be engaged and moved by water owing therein to disengage saidlatch.

9. A downspout extension as recited in claim 1 wherein the center ofgravity of said conduit, as it is raised to its rest position, passesthrough and slightly past a vertical plane including the pivotal axis ofthe conduit, whereby said conduit is slightly overbalanced toward said-rest :position, and with the addition of a latch member carried movablyby said body member and operable to engage ano secure said conduitreleasably in its rest position, said latch member being biased towardits engaged position, said latch member including an `operating memberdis- 5 posed within said body member and adapted to be engaged and movedby water owing therein to disengage said latch.

10. A downspout extension as recited in claim 9 Wherelin the verticalleg of said body member is provided with a swivel connection wherebysaid spout may be pivoted about the axis lof said vertical leg, andwherein said conduit is mounted on the `spout portion of said bodymember and is longitudinally extensible to vary the length thereof.

No references cited.

WILLIAM F. ODEA, Primary Examiner. H. M. COHN, Assistant Examiner.

1. AN EXTENSION FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH A DOWNSPOUT AFFIXED TO THESIDE OF A BUILDING AND ADAPTED TO CONVEY WATER DOWNWARDLY THERETHROUGH,SAID EXTENSION COMPRISING: (A) AN L-SHAPED TUBULAR BODY MEMBER HAVING AVERTICAL LEG ADAPTED TO BE INTERCONNECTED TO THE LOWER END OF SAIDDOWNSPOUT TO RECEIVE WATER THEREFROM AND A HORIZONTAL LEG FORMING ASPOUT AT THE LOWER END OF SAID VERTICAL LEG AND ADAPTED TO DISCHARGEWATER HORIZONTALLY, AND (B) AN ELONGATED CONDUIT PIVOTED AT ONE END TOSAID BODY MEMBER ON A HORIZONTAL AXIS BELOW THE DISCHARGE OPENING OFSAID SPOUT, SAID CONDUIT BEING PIVOTABLE DOWNWARDLY FROM A RAISED RESTPOSITION GENERALLY PARALLEL TO AND ADJACENT SAID DOWNSPOUT, IN WHICH ITOVERLIES THE DISCHARGE END OF SAID SPOUT, TO A USE POSITION IN WHICH ITEXTENDS HORIZONTALLY OUTWARDLY FROM SAID SPOUT IN ALIGNMENT THEREWITHAND IS POSITIONED TO RECEIVE WATER THEREFROM, SAID CONDUIT BEING URGEDFROM SAID REST POSITION TO SAID USE POSITION BY WATER IMPINGINGTHEREAGAINST AS IT EMERGES FROM SAID SPOUT.